Chelsea have set their sights on acquiring a new midfielder in the summer transfer window as one of the final pieces to complete Todd Boehly's rebuild. The Blues brought in Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in January and the plan seems to be that the man purchased in the summer will partner him in the Chelsea midfield for years to come.
The end of the 2022/23 season was always going to be a significant moment regarding midfielders for Chelsea with N'Golo Kante and Jorginho both seeing their contracts expire. The Blues were able to secure a significant windfall for Jorginho as he joined Arsenal on deadline day in a deal worth £10million. Extension talks for Kante meanwhile, are set to continue in the coming months as he recovers from injury.
Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham have been long-term transfer targets in midfield for the Blues but it is highly unlikely both can be bought by Chelsea following new FFP regulations and the fact they broke the British transfer record to sign Fernandez.
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The duo's current clubs, West Ham and Borussia Dortmund, are seemingly condemned to losing their star players come the end of the season, but both will fetch hefty fees for their clubs to sanction a departure.
A number of European sides are in the race for both players which will likely make Chelsea's hopes of signing either more difficult. However, Chelsea do hold an advantage in a different transfer race which could end up saving Boehly millions.
Denis Zakaria is on loan from Juventus at Chelsea and the Blues hold a £27million option to buy the midfielder at the end of his temporary spell. That decision could have just gotten easier though as Juve are preparing to put the Switzerland international up for sale in the summer, according to Evening Standard.
In the first portion of the season, Zakaria struggled to appear in the Chelsea midfield but he made his debut in the Champions League win against Dinamo Zagreb, where he scored the winning goal. A fruitful World Cup saw him return with a spot in the starting XI and a number of impressive performances saw him keep his place.
However, the 26-year-old suffered a thigh injury against Fulham just over a month ago and he is yet to feature since. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher have both had the chance to start alongside Fernandez, but Zakaria could really help the World Cup winner explode.
Zakaria sitting at the base of the midfield would allow Fernandez to be more expansive with his play and his assist for Joao Felix's goal against West Ham gave Chelsea fans a glimpse of what he can do. Although the Blues are yet to make a decision on whether they will take up the buy option for Zakaria, football.london understands.
Midfield recruitment is definitely a priority though and an opportunity to sign a well-rounded midfielder for £27million in Zakaria could be too good to turn down.
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